• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

What was your fasting blood glucose? (full on chat)

gennepher said:
Got back an hour ago. It was a very long day, and there was a lot of waiting.


I had to go through various eye tests and things like I always to do at the hospital and I did not see the specialist until very late afternoon.


It was the top man like it was last year.


I told him about the optician diagnosing cataracts and referring me to have a cataract operation and...


And so he interrupted me, looked in my eyes and started laughing his head off.


That's the teeniest tiniest cataract I have ever seen, he said. That won't cause you any problems. Rip up that offer of the operation and throw it in the bin.


That cataract might never cause you any problems and you may never need an operation. There's nothing for you to worry about.


He told me my eyes have not deteriorated one jot. My sight is just the same as it has been for the last 5 years since the YAG iridectomy laser treatment.


That Specsavers optician has a lot to answer for. She was totally irresponsible. I have been worrying ever since she told me and ever since she said my eyesight had deteriorated dramatically and me needing the cataract operation urgently.


I literally want to slap her across her face for the unnecessary distress she caused me.


My brain believed her and I felt like this was the end of everything, and I lost my confidence these last couple of weeks. Even though I was saying hopefully St Paul's hospital will not agree with her diagnosis that I had cataracts, I wasn't fully believing what I was saying, and I was getting depressed over it.


It did not make sense. I felt my eyes had not deteriorated at all in the last 5 years, and because I had the same glasses and the optician at Specsavers has never said that I needed to change them.


That Specsavers lady optician telling me (a couple of weeks or so ago) that my eyesight had deteriorated dramatically since last since last year really did put me in a bad place. The St Paul's specialist today confirmed my eyesight has not changed at all, and has not deteriorated at all. And that my eyesight is good, and that my right eye which the lady Specsavers insisted was really bad it is not really bad at all BUT it is pretty much near on par with my left eye. I could read further down the hospital eye chart with my supposedly really bad right eye, yet I couldn't at the opticians. And I wasn't having a bad day at Specsavers, her eye equipment was steaming up/misting up which was causing me problems. I had no problems like this at St Paul's Hospital today.


It was murder coming back home on the motorway with the going home traffic, the inside lane was doing 70 minimum, the middle lane was doing 80 and the cars and stuff, and the outside lane were doing 90. And they were weaving...I had no choice but to do 70 on the inside lane. I have not done that kind of motorway driving in many many years, not since J died, so we're talking 15 years.


I wanted to come back home for Midnight. Last year I had said I was going to book a hotel for a couple of nights. But I changed my mind and decided if I did need a hotel then I would just have to pop my car somewhere safe and go to that dive, the Adelphi which is literally a stone throw from the hospital.


When the eye specialist began laughing at my miniscule cataract, somehow I got a whole pile of confidence back, and strangely I could see more clearly, It is like all the stress over this so-called cataract business just melted away.


I haven't come back to Planet Earth yet...

Or got over the Specialist Boss Man laughing at my minuscule cataract...
Click to expand...
Yipee! Great news, have a lovely day relaxing.
 
Good morning everyone on a lovely quiet start to the day here in the dark and dangerous north. 5.6 this am. A day indoors yesterday, just pottering about. I love a good potter, from pote, slightly different though from puttering which sounds dangerous. Why is Chosen Words by Ivor Brown so interesting? I have a copy of Brewer’s Dictionary Of Phrases and Fables edited by Susie Dent. Very useful for propping my painting board up at a jaunty angle for wet on wet painting due to it’s size. Art bit - my hake brush is shedding bristles (best order a new one) so this was an exercise with a 3 inch decorators paint brush and applying all colours without cleaning the brush. Hope you all have a good day today. Time for my koffy.


1702974149775.jpeg
 
dunelm said:
Good morning everyone on a lovely quiet start to the day here in the dark and dangerous north. 5.6 this am. A day indoors yesterday, just pottering about. I love a good potter, from pote, slightly different though from puttering which sounds dangerous. Why is Chosen Words by Ivor Brown so interesting? I have a copy of Brewer’s Dictionary Of Phrases and Fables edited by Susie Dent. Very useful for propping my painting board up at a jaunty angle for wet on wet painting due to it’s size. Art bit - my hake brush is shedding bristles (best order a new one) so this was an exercise with a 3 inch decorators paint brush and applying all colours without cleaning the brush. Hope you all have a good day today. Time for my koffy.


View attachment 65013
Click to expand...
I have a few of those hake type decorators brushes @dunelm
Very useful for a multitude of jobs...
A good painting...
But my preference is your blockbuster card paintings. I could view those forever...
 
Good Morening Ladies and Gentlemen on this woke centred day. Yes Tuesdays are my woke nearly friendly day where for today I shall identify as Loretta, but only today.

Blood sugars this morning were 5.2

Have fellow posters and painters noticed the amount of effeminate sounding radio presenters their or there ( your choice ) are on the radio these day, I’ve sent a tape in to, too or two ( again your choice ) see in I could bag a slot, but I have explained that I could only work on Tuesdays, and have also explained that I will work for, four or fore ( again your choice ) vegan bacon sarnies.

Things here in Tilehurst Towers are gaining momentum for the huge shop closing event, how will the human race survive? Me me’s and myself know or care not and in the words of that pop group Chas and Dave, I got my beer in the sideboard ‘ere, let mother sort it out. Whoops slight digression there.

Now it’s time the walrus said to move things along, getting on with life, fore good or bad, better or worse, in sickness and health, now where have I heard those words before.

Remember a smile costs nothing and scares the living daylights out of a stranger.

Have a great day all

Loretta.
 
dunelm said:
Good morning everyone on a lovely quiet start to the day here in the dark and dangerous north. 5.6 this am. A day indoors yesterday, just pottering about. I love a good potter, from pote, slightly different though from puttering which sounds dangerous. Why is Chosen Words by Ivor Brown so interesting? I have a copy of Brewer’s Dictionary Of Phrases and Fables edited by Susie Dent. Very useful for propping my painting board up at a jaunty angle for wet on wet painting due to it’s size. Art bit - my hake brush is shedding bristles (best order a new one) so this was an exercise with a 3 inch decorators paint brush and applying all colours without cleaning the brush. Hope you all have a good day today. Time for my koffy.


View attachment 65013
Click to expand...
Hake is or is not a fish? 75mm brush, do you do walls, no not the ice cream and without d birds
 
gennepher said:
I have a few of those hake type decorators brushes @dunelm
Very useful for a multitude of jobs...
A good painting...
But my preference is your blockbuster card paintings. I could view those forever...
Click to expand...
Thank you @gennepher - I may well be going back to some blockbuster card paintings after playing around with Mrs Miggins’ decorating brushes.
 
gennepher said:
We had a thriving community centre and café and everything else before Covid lockdowns @lindisfel

We were told that once lockdowns were finished, it would open up again, but they found there was no funding and it never opened up again. So a structure, a community where people helped each other was gone because we were all dispersed now, and I haven't seen any of them around in a long time.

There were a couple of people who used to help me out with lifts or food shopping when the community centre was thriving, and people helped me out with other stuff, and I helped them out too. One helped me out with my garden, but with lockdowns he ended up moving to be near his son, so I lost my gardener, and artist friend because we did painting.

But the meeting place with all our diverse groups - teaching art (I ran that weekly), teaching and helping people with Ancestry & Find My Past & genealogy (I became the expert in those when our genealogist died one Xmas with diabetic complications), teaching computers, teaching how to use the iPad (I helped with all the computer stuff, and that was how I learnt it all because I could work things out). Then there was the book club, knitting, baking, flower arranging and much more, and cafe (open daily run by volunteers), and the place where the CAB was, is now gone. It was somewhere where we met every day of the week Monday to Friday and a lot more stuff as well, like trips out.

A lot of people I knew from the community centre ended up moving a long distance to be nearer their families because of Covid and lockdowns. So we ended up being dispersed.

I tried to keep the art group running, with projects online via Facebook & via WhatsApp, but they just all fell by the wayside bit by bit, because it wasn't the same as them gossiping etc in the art group or people bringing in cakes they baked for our tea breaks. I still text a couple of them, but they all have their own problems now, and have become largely reclusive...or have aged parents to take care of.

I knew I would need a support structure in my old age, which is why I gave as well as received in the community centre. But I did not expect something like Covid and lockdowns to wipe out 20 years hard work if you wish to put it like that.

So, no family near me. I am back to being on my own again.

But I am not on my own in the sense I have all my Internet stuff, and Instagram and YouTube, and other stuff, and my postcrossing and penfriends where I am making new friends all the time. Life is very busy, not enough hours in the day for me...

I might be well over 70, but I still have long-term goals and plans, as I've had all my life and I have achieved all of them. I have to see how far I get with my current, believe it or not, 30 year plan..... divided into 10 year increments...

Life drops some lemons, life changes, and I have to box clever to figure ways round things......

Have a great time!
Click to expand...
I gave a win for the mental attitude before , and especially since, with all that you lost.

But an invisible hug too, for the loss of the centre. Sounded a lovely place to visit & sit , so sad.


I can't help that the image that popped into my head, was that "mario' game , the one where he has to jump over obstacles or jump up to get the 'rings'

Must be that, like you he never gives up, he always has a smile while he does it & that exhultation when he reaches a Goal ...

The music is in my head now for the day, most likely

(A synthetic sounding, electric beat, a heart beat that pitches high & low in almost random alternate beats, is how I'd describe it @gennepher )

Screenshot_2023-12-19-09-19-41-160-edit_com.google.android.youtube.jpg
 
Fbg 6.6

I am so overtired today after the mammoth long day with the hospital appointment yesterday.
Hands won't cooperate to do a Creative drawing.
So you get a Creative photo out of my glass bedroom door today.
Rain.
A paddling pool is around my bungalow...
Cat Jade has just done a big leap from swing to drier land.

Wild life nighttime video
Cat Midnight & Fox & Badger
52 secs

Going back to sleep...

Have your best day...

IMG_4847.jpeg
 
Last edited:
jjraak said:
I gave a win for the mental attitude before , and especially since, with all that you lost.

But an invisible hug too, for the loss of the centre. Sounded a lovely place to visit & sit , so sad.


I can't help that the image that popped into my head, was that "mario' game , the one where he has to jump over obstacles or jump up to get the 'rings'

Must be that, like you he never gives up, he always has a smile while he does it & that exhultation when he reaches a Goal ...

The music is in my head now for the day, most likely

(A synthetic sounding, electric beat, a heart beat that pitches high & low in almost random alternate beats, is how I'd describe it @gennepher )

View attachment 65014
Click to expand...
Thank you @jjraak
For your kind word and invisible hug...
It is most welcome..
 
6.3 this morning. Luckily we managed a dog walk around the park while it wasn't raining too heavily. As soon as we got home the heavens opened and it has really been raining heavily for a couple of hours.

Have been relaxing and reading and drinking coffee but must shortly start doing some work. We got a lot done yesterday. It is lovely having the time to sort through stuff.
 
gennepher said:
Got back an hour ago. It was a very long day, and there was a lot of waiting.


I had to go through various eye tests and things like I always to do at the hospital and I did not see the specialist until very late afternoon.


It was the top man like it was last year.


I told him about the optician diagnosing cataracts and referring me to have a cataract operation and...


And so he interrupted me, looked in my eyes and started laughing his head off.


That's the teeniest tiniest cataract I have ever seen, he said. That won't cause you any problems. Rip up that offer of the operation and throw it in the bin.


That cataract might never cause you any problems and you may never need an operation. There's nothing for you to worry about.


He told me my eyes have not deteriorated one jot. My sight is just the same as it has been for the last 5 years since the YAG iridectomy laser treatment.


That Specsavers optician has a lot to answer for. She was totally irresponsible. I have been worrying ever since she told me and ever since she said my eyesight had deteriorated dramatically and me needing the cataract operation urgently.


I literally want to slap her across her face for the unnecessary distress she caused me.


My brain believed her and I felt like this was the end of everything, and I lost my confidence these last couple of weeks. Even though I was saying hopefully St Paul's hospital will not agree with her diagnosis that I had cataracts, I wasn't fully believing what I was saying, and I was getting depressed over it.


It did not make sense. I felt my eyes had not deteriorated at all in the last 5 years, and because I had the same glasses and the optician at Specsavers has never said that I needed to change them.


That Specsavers lady optician telling me (a couple of weeks or so ago) that my eyesight had deteriorated dramatically since last since last year really did put me in a bad place. The St Paul's specialist today confirmed my eyesight has not changed at all, and has not deteriorated at all. And that my eyesight is good, and that my right eye which the lady Specsavers insisted was really bad it is not really bad at all BUT it is pretty much near on par with my left eye. I could read further down the hospital eye chart with my supposedly really bad right eye, yet I couldn't at the opticians. And I wasn't having a bad day at Specsavers, her eye equipment was steaming up/misting up which was causing me problems. I had no problems like this at St Paul's Hospital today.


It was murder coming back home on the motorway with the going home traffic, the inside lane was doing 70 minimum, the middle lane was doing 80 and the cars and stuff, and the outside lane were doing 90. And they were weaving...I had no choice but to do 70 on the inside lane. I have not done that kind of motorway driving in many many years, not since J died, so we're talking 15 years.


I wanted to come back home for Midnight. Last year I had said I was going to book a hotel for a couple of nights. But I changed my mind and decided if I did need a hotel then I would just have to pop my car somewhere safe and go to that dive, the Adelphi which is literally a stone throw from the hospital.


When the eye specialist began laughing at my miniscule cataract, somehow I got a whole pile of confidence back, and strangely I could see more clearly, It is like all the stress over this so-called cataract business just melted away.


I haven't come back to Planet Earth yet...

Or got over the Specialist Boss Man laughing at my minuscule cataract...
Click to expand...
That is wonderful news @gennepher. The Specsaver optician should be struck off.
 
dunelm said:
As he is always making and fixing things maybe he would appreciate a shiny new tool like a claw hammer, a new tool box, tool belt or some such - or some deep heat for aching backs! It could be an escape from festivities for a while to get over to a Screwfix , Tool Station or B&Q. Will a cement mixer be too much :)
Click to expand...
Cement mixer! He wore one out last year and immediately replaced it. He gave a eulogy for his best hammer, lost while repairing the friends roof. How many years he used it, how expensive it was all those decades ago. Guesses as to price of replacing with similar quality. How a friend tried to steal it and how he managed to retrieve it.
He was delighted when he found it two days later. After that I would not even attempt to buy him tools. He will have to make do with the default present- socks.
 
Back
Top